On Wednesday, Kirk Cousins was thinking about his boys, Cooper and Turner. “I hope my boys find something they’re as passionate about as I am about football,” he said, “but I hope it doesn’t torment them the way football torments me. I mean, I’m crawling in my skin driving home from the stadium on Sunday and the last two days.”
Tormented. Cousins isn’t upset or irked by his mishaps in the Minnesota Vikings’ 28-24 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. He’s tormented. In Greek mythology, the boulder Sisyphus repeatedly has to push up the hill torments him. The burden of being the Chosen One tormented Anakin Skywalker so much he turned to the dark side and became Darth Vader. Van Gogh and Michelangelo were tormented artists.
Such is the burden Cousins carries. He can toss the ball all over the field with pinpoint accuracy and throws for 4,000 yards a year. But he’s prone to making mistakes in big moments. Cousins has lined up under guard and kneeled when he meant to spike the ball. It all seems particularly cruel for a perfectionist who sweats the details. Anyone who watched Netflix’s Quarterback series saw Cousins going over Minnesota’s playoff loss to the New York Giants with his wife, Julie, as they drove home. Mistakes torture him.
“In March and April, when you’re going another time around the horn, you know you’re signing up for some frustrations here and there and some moments you wish you could have back,” he said on Wednesday. “So that’s where we are right now. I’m thankful that we’ve been as explosive as an offense as we have been – there’s a lot to build on. But you’ve gotta put it all together.”
Cousins isn’t the only person at the Vikings facility who was still thinking about the Chargers game in the middle of the week. Most coaches talk about going 1-0 every week and having a short memory. But even O’Connell admitted to having lingering thoughts about the loss to LA.
As folks walked in the building today, I could feel the good energy, the right energy. We’ve got great leadership. It’s very easy, in my opinion, to look at where we are and look backwards. … I would be lying to you if I said I am still not thinking about a couple of things here and there. It’s kind of the could’ve, would’ve, should’ve type thing. I am trying to use a lot of that to move forward the right way and continue to improve personally and collectively with our group.
But in this case, moving forward doesn’t mean forgetting. Minnesota’s offense has been prolific if you take away their nine turnovers this year and three empty red zone visits last week. Cousins is averaging over 350 yards a game, and Justin Jefferson is racking up around 150 receiving yards a contest. Alexander Mattison got 93 yards on the ground after a slow start. The defense is another story. However, their blitz-heavy scheme should work against quarterbacks who aren’t Justin Herbert. Ultimately, they should be better than 0-3.
“Obviously, there’s plays you want back,” said T.J. Hockenson, who dropped a pass in the end zone that the Chargers picked off to end the game. “I mean, in the red zone, it’s always shorter windows, smaller windows. There’s things happening that you have landmarks on, and at the end of the day, you almost just have to go win and do what you need, whether or not we talk about where we need to be on certain things.”
Cousins says he’s trying not to let football torment him. However, he added that you’d have to ask his wife if he’s making any progress.
I’m trying. But I think it goes both ways, right? On one hand, you’re further along in your football career, so you feel like you’re getting better at it. On the other hand, you’re further along in your football career, so you realize you’re running out of time. And I think it’s both sides of that. I think when you’re younger, you’re a little bit more willing to shrug your shoulders and know there’s more games up ahead, and I think when you’re older, you’re like, ‘It’s now.’
In Netflix’s Quarterback documentary, Cousins spends his drive home going over plays he wished he had back. The Giants playoff game was the only contest Minnesota lost by one score last year. Now they’ve lost three in a row. If they can’t win in Carolina, it’s hard to see them climbing back into playoff contention. 0-3 is hard enough.
It’s that much worse when Cousins is in a contract year, and the Vikings didn’t extend Jefferson. The offense has put up yardage, and the defense has done enough to keep them in games. A winless start is that much harder to process for a team that entered the season with expectations. But there’s no time like the present to turn things around. They have to end the torment.
